I am on the Mississippi wildlife,Fish and Parks mailing list and below is a portion of the mass email I received from them today.

"2011 Brought Big Bucks for Mississippi

The early spring that occurred in 2011 was kind to many Mississippi deer hunters. William T. McKinley, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks (MDWFP) Deer Program Biologist said, “Recent research has shown that an early spring green-up allows deer more time to recover from the stress of the rut and cold winter, which helps deer devote more energy to body and antler growth.”

Deer management zones, along with antler criteria that began in 2010, and the concept of quality deer management are resulting in many hunters observing more mature bucks on their properties.

This combination of sound deer management and increased nutrition has resulted in numerous reports of record class bucks, 160” or better, across Mississippi. At this time, 64 bucks, scoring better than 160 Boone and Crockett inches, have been reported in the following counties: Adams, Chickasaw, Carroll, Clarke, Clay, Coahoma, Holmes, Humphreys, Issaquena, Jasper, Jefferson, Jeff Davis, Jones, Lauderdale, Leake, Leflore, Lowndes, Madison, Monroe, Noxubee, Pike, Rankin, Sharkey, Sunflower, Tunica, Warren, Webster, Winston, and Yazoo. Of these, 41 bucks scored greater than 170”, 25 scored greater than 180”, 8 scored greater than 190”, and 3 scored over 200”. Most of these scores are not official, as the required 60-day drying time has not elapsed.

Acorn Crop Contributes to Reduced Deer Sightings in 2011

Mississippi’s 2011-2012 deer season has been interesting to say the least. Prior to the season, MDWFP Deer Program Biologists were concerned with meeting hunters’ expectations due to an abundant statewide acorn crop. Many hunters understand that deer observations tend to be less during years of heavy acorn production. “This reduction in deer observations is caused by one major factor; if deer have ample access to food, they tend to move much less,” said MDWFP Deer Program Biologist, Lann M. Wilf. Wilf continued, “Another factor that likely has reduced deer activity, and subsequently, our overall harvest were the mild weather conditions that we experienced all winter.”

This reduction in deer movement during most of the season has resulted in a considerable decrease in hunter success on most properties. One exception was high hunter success during the youth and early primitive weapon seasons. This trend was observed throughout most of the state, and was likely due to a higher preference of recently emerging food plots and limited availability of mast during early fall. However, as acorns began to drop, many hunters reported food plot usage declined as the season progressed. Another exception was the consistent hunter success in landscapes dominated by pine plantations and cutovers, which have limited acorn-producing hardwoods. In these instances, hardwoods served as bottlenecks and provided ample opportunities to observe and harvest deer.

High food availability and limited movement allowed many bucks to slip through this season. We expect good things to come in the 2012-2013 season!"

QDM works,Pretty logical, 3 deer hunting zones, reasonable doe killing limits, and antler restriction in the form of beam length and spread requirements. I would love to see Alabama move in this direction, what do yall think?

i think it hard to compare alabama to mississippi. I would venture to guess that most of those counties listed are on or close to the mississippi river. I would guess that the counties that border alabama arent that productive. I would say that studies done in georgia would be more similar to what we could expect in alabama

We really have no way of knowing in Alabama........

I would oppose any doe limits and any form of government telling me what size "trophy" I can kill. Anyone is free to enforce these limits on THEIR own property at any time in AL.

Mississippi has more area with blackbelt soil than Alabama. The Ms. river delta soil is more conducive for growing horns.

The natural calcium in most of Alabama's sandy and red clay abundant soils was depleted 50 or so years ago.

It is my opinion that the answer to this question has much to do with the amount of land a hunter has control over. For people who have control of 1000's of acres of land they seem to want less gubmint control. People, who have control over a small amount of land, seem to be in favor of more stringent limits set by the state. This is a very generalized statement, but I think it holds true more times than not.

Most interesting statement to me in the whole article is "Acorn crop contributes to reduced deer sightings in 2011".

I've written about a few of the big Mississippi bucks this season.

Many have been in what would be called the Delta. Several have been scattered around the state.

It's darn sure been a hell of a year over there. Every guy I've talked with hunting 40 acres to big WMAs said their management, selective decisions, state requirements and food have contributed greatly.

That is interesting, I figured it was too many does being killed.....

at least a third (probably more) of the counties listed aren't in or near the miss river delta. i believe at least 3 border alabama.

mississippi is experiencing a boom of big bucks due, at least in part, to statewide antler restrictions (and a 3 buck limit) that have been in place for several years now in some form. they messed up the first few years and had restriction that were 'high grading' young bucks but changed when it was realized. the restrictions are designed to protect 90%+ of 1 1/2 yo bucks and are most restrictive in the regions that traditionally produce larger deer, regardless.

i hunt over there some every fall and it appears to me that most folks are on board with the restrictions cause they see it has worked. This has happened without tags or check stations and with a zoned season that runs from 10/1 to 2/15 in the coastal (late rut) area.

Looks like MS. estimate they killed 270,000 deer last year so if that is about the same this year and half was bucks that means they killed 135,000 bucks and 64 or .048% of them scored 160 or better those are some terrible odds and that is in MS I am sure AL is prob worse but we keep on trying not sure if we are all just very optimistic or crazy or a little of both. It is kinda like playing the kill a big buck lottery maybe we are all just a bunch of gamblers. LOL

I think furflyIn is exactly correct

Several of those counties are not trophy counties, nor are they even remotely close to some of their better soils and habitats. AL could have very similar results as MS if more bucks were making it into older age classes. There are plenty of places capable of producing 160"+ bucks in AL, and it doesn't require prairie or alluvial soils.

It takes birthdays to grow antlers, regardless of any other factors. Habitat and nutrition are important, but more birthdays is the key ingredient.

I counted only 6 or 7 counties in that list that are on the MS River...several I saw, Clarke, Lauderdale, Noxubee border Alabama...Ive seen MS when I could 100 deer a day and not a racked buck in the bunch, now not near as many deer a day, but no way back then would I say MS could grow what MS IS growing...It comes from selection, and management...each to their own

Yep Jasper is as poor red dirt / piney woods as it gets....

I would agree with your opinion that it probably has a whole lot to do with how much land you own/lease as to which side of the doe harvest arguement you fall on. That said, I certainly don't think it would be right to take self-management (what we have now with the liberal doe harvest) away from a large population of the hunting public to satisfy those who choose to hunt small acreages. I empathize with those who do hunt small acreages and feel as though they have no control over their own hunting property, but just because others may have some bloodthirsty neighbors, I don't think the state should legislate that across the entire state...or even across an entire county.

I choose to be in a club with several thousand acres simply because I feel we can manage our herd better by having that much property. Having your own property all to yourself to hunt is a wonderful thing, but unless you're a rich man that can afford to lease a whole pile of land, then you're going to be at the mercy of your neighbors just as much as of yourself. It may suck, but that's just the way it is. The choice to lease your own 100 or 200 acres has rewards, but that same choice has consequences to go along with those rewards. Everyone should know this when making that choice. It's not like the liberal doe harvest has just come about in the last 2 or 3 years.

Well said.

X2

What you are not taking into consideration is that as a hunter you can do things that will either increase or decrease your odds of taking a 160 class buck. The odds are still very low that you will harvest a buck of that caliber, but you can swing the odds in your favor somewhat. With the lottery there isn't much you can do to change the odds. But I think it's a given that those kind of bucks in this part of the country are generally a once in a life time opportunity. But that's what makes it so special if you are fortunate enough to put yourself in that position, and to actually close the deal on a buck of a lifetime. It doesn't mean as much to me when guys are bragging about their 160 they took in Kansas as opposed to a 160 killed here in the SE. Great buck either way, but it's 100 times harder to achieve that here than in the midwest.